The following
script is taken directly from the movie directed by John Duigan and
starring Mischa Barton as the excitable 10-year old Devon
Stockard.

SCENE ONE opens
on a field of grass with DEVON in the background.

DEVON
(voice-over): Once upon a time in a far off land lived a girl and her
mother and father. Their village was surrounded by a high wall. Outside
the wall was the forest, home of Babi Yaga, the witch. Babi Yaga had iron
teeth to cut through trees. His legs were chicken legs and he ate little
girls for dinner. But inside the wall, the girl was safe.

SCENE
TWO TRENT is mowing the lawn and stops for a breath. BILLY aims a gun
his face.

BILLY: Stick 'em up.

SCENE THREE DEVON is
placing raisons in unbaked cookies. Her parents, MORTON and CLARE are at
the kitchen counter making a list.

MORTON: Try the Madison house
first. Then the Engers. Scratch the Crutchners, they're in Rhode Island
for the weekend.

CLARE: Humm, that's the Loflins. The Crutchner's
are in town.

MORTON: Don't forget to ring the bell three or four
times at the Neill's at the Birch Grove Court. His wife's almost deaf.

CLARE: And on the school board.

MORTON: Everyone will get
a taste of the Stockards, yum, yum.

DEVON: (a fly lands on one of
the cookies. She smashes the fly into the center and turns to her parents)
These are ready.

SCENE FOUR BILLY is still banging away at
Trent. From offscreen we here his mother say "Billy, Snacktime!" He runs
off, allowing his hat to fly off his head. Trent swings his mower around
and runs over it, creating a burst of confetti.

SCENE FIVE In
front of the Stockard's home. CLARE: Don't lose the money you get.

MORTON:Everyone knows how to smile, remember.

CLARE: Your
photo will be in the paper.

MORTON: If she sells the most bags.

CLARE: Oh, she will. She's a perfect little saleswoman.

MORTON: Make a good impression, honey. We're still the new kids on
the block. Off to work we go.

CLARE: Don't fiddle with your socks;
they're just new.

MORTON: Be careful on the roads.

CLARE:
Watch for cars. sweetie; look left and right.

MORTON: Now get
going.

CLARE: Whatever you do, don't go outside the gate,
sweetheart.

MORTON: Daddy loves you.

(DEVON starts to walk
off and passes the neighborhood cop, NASH)

NASH: Devon Stockard.
Now there's a girl who's out to conquer the world. You want me to buy a
bag of those cookies from you?

DEVON: You're not on my list.

SCENE SIX TRENT approches a customer's door and knocks.

MAN (from inside): Can I help you?

TRENT: Uh, yeah, I
finished your lawn, sir.

MAN: Already?

TRENT: I did a good
job. Short back and sides, got all the weeds, sir. (door opens, man pays
him) Thank-you. (door closes) Sir, do you think I could use your bathroom
facilities?...Guess not.

TRENT goes to his truck and once inside
relieves himself in a Big Gulp cup. He cranks the engine and nothing
happens. He pops the hood to check the engine and NASH steps up.

NASH: Can I help you son?

TRENT: No, I can get it, thanks.

NASH: Just tell me when.

TRENT: Just a minute. Okay.

NASH: Nothing.

TRENT: Alright, try it again. (the truck
starts and NASH refuses to get out)

NASH: Get in, not for long.
Business must be good.

TRENT: I'm making plenty.

NASH: You
live close by here?

TRENT: Not that close by.

NASH: Me
either. Whatcha got in the cooler.

TRENT: Soda pop?

NASH:
Shit. I was hoping it was ice cold beer. It's hotter than a cat's crotch
today, isn't it?

TRENT: Yeah, and I stink. I need a shower.

NASH: I used to mow lawns when I was a kid. After a while, it gets
to be nothing in the world but lawns. Green lawns. And the best damn thing
about lawns is they always grow back. Let's not be in here past five
unless you clear it by me first.

NASH gets out, TRENT slides over
and drives off. He takes his shirt off, reaches into the cooler to find an
ice cold beer, and then stops his truck on a one lane bridge. He gets out,
ignores the traffic, and takes his pants off. He stands on teh edge,
buck-naked, and tehn dives into the river below. He returns to the truck
and drives off.

WATCHER: I want to know if hes gonna be here next
Friday.

SCENE SEVEN DEVON approaches a driveway leading into a
thick woods.

DEVON: At the edge of a big dark forest lived a girl
an her mother and father. One day her mother said 'Girl, I shall make you
a batch of cookies and you must go and sell them in the forest.' Now the
girl was not stupid. SHe knew they were trying to get rid of her, but the
father said, 'Don't worry, dear.' So she went. The girl walked on. (she
finds a clearing with a fire pit, a dog house--empty--and a trailor) She
came to a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing, there was
a hut and a very skinny dog. The dog was starving. The girl said to the
dog 'You look hungry.' So she fed him. Babi Yaga's house...(she knocks,
nothing. She opens the door and walks in. A truck door slams outside and
she tries to run, but trips and lands face first on the floor. The door
opens and TRENT looks in) Hello. I'm Devon Thompkins Stockard Girl Ranger.
I'm selling thumbprint cookies. All proceeds go to the Pine Cone Charity
House of Mackay County. (TRENT closes the door. DEVON gets up and goes to
meet him) That a '65 Ford? 65 of 100 is the best motor Ford ever made. Is
it 300 Trig?

TRENT: Yeah.

DEVON: My uncle had a truck like
that. He was russian, from Indiana, born on the wrong side of the train.

TRENT: Wrong side of the tracks.

DEVON: Right. He said the
mounts were going bad on the truck. So one night, he drove it into Spoon
River. Never drove back out.

TRENT: What a shame.

DEVON:
That's what my aunt said.

TRENT: You can rebuild mounts. That's
what I did.

DEVON: Can you take me for a ride in it?

TRENT: I don't wanna buy any cookies. This is private property. Go
home.

SCENE EIGHT (dinner time, Stockard's home)

CLARE: Four bags? Does that include the two we bought?

MORTON: You'll have to do better than that.

CLARE: How far
did you get down the list?

MORTON: It all depends on your face,
sweetheart. It is not what you got in the bag they wanna buy. It's your
happy face. For those who weren't home today, try tomorrow.

CLARE:
Don't forget to say it's for the charity house.

MORTON: It be a
shame if some other little girl got her picture in the paper.

CLARE: You'll do better tomorrow, sweetheart.

MORTON: Give
me a kiss. Goodnight, sweetheart.

CLARE: I'll be up in a little
while. I changed your doctor's appointment for the day after tomorrow,
9:30AM. (Devon exits)

MORTON: Oh, I like to see her happy for a
change.

CLARE: Well, she's going through a stage; it's her age.

MORTON: Yeah, all we get is mope and complain. Imagine what she'll
be like in a few years.

CLARE: She hardly complains.

MORTON: She could at least pretend to be happy. I mean when I was
a kid, that's what you did for your parents.

CLARE: We've only
been setled for a couple of months. Give it time. She's met that one
girl...Donna.

MORTON: Oh, I feel sorry for that Donna-kid's
father. Imagine, having a daughter with a face like a possum.

CLARE: She's got a lovely voice.

MORTON: Well, if I'm
gonna have a voice at all we gotta start pushing. Elections for the county
board are this fall.

CLARE: That will be four boards you're going
after. You'll have to be careful yu don't lose your own voice.

MORTON: Not if you want a real say in this county, in this suburb,
right here where we live, then I've gotta become the board man, the model
of citizen involvement. Isn't that why we moved back here?

SCENE
NINE DEVON gets out of bed and opens her window. She climbs out on the
roof and then raises her nightgown up and over her head. She lets the wind
grab it and then crouches in nothing but her panties. Then she turns to
the moon and howls.

DEVON: Owwwwwwww! Arwwwww!

SCENE TEN
DEVON is sets off again to sell cookies and grabs a few encouraging
words from her father.

MORTON: I want us all to make a home here,
Dev. Want you to find lots of new friends. Popular girls are never bored
or boring. Look honey, this is the new Dev, right here. You don't have to
tell your new friends anything about the old Dev if you don't want to. And
the new Dev's, she's raring to go, isn't she?

DEVON: Thanks, dad.
(walks away, only to confront Billy.)

BILLY: Hey! Halt, squawl!(He
jabs a gun in her face and she grabs it, swings it around and puts it in
his mouth)

DEVON: You'd be doing the community a favor. (she walks
away)

BILLY: Bang!

SCENE ELEVEN CLARE is in her
garder, weeding, when two young boys about 24 years old each step up

BRETT: Hello, Mrs. Stockard.

CLARE: Hello, Brett.

BRETT: You should call Spray Green Lawn Service. It'll wipe those
weeds out in a couple of hours.

CLARE: I like to work up a little
sweat.

BRETT: You know, if you leave the root in, it'll grow back.

CLARE: Just ripping their heads off is more fun. Would you like to
lend a hand?

BRETT: And do something useful this summer?

SEAN: Sounds criminal to me.

CLARE: You should both have
summer jobs; keep your minds sharp.

BRETT: If we had jobs, who'd
help you weed? (BRETT kneels down and begins pulling up the grass around
the hem of CLARE's dress. Slowly, his hands move underneath the dress)

SEAN: I'll just let you two finish up here.

SCENE TWELVE
DEVON approaches TRENT's trailor. She peeps in the window to find
TRENT and some other woman having sex. She laughs, says "Stop it." and
DEVON falls from her perch. Seconds later, TRENT and the girl exit the
trailor)

PAM: No thanks. I can make it. And
it's Pam, Pam Gregory. C-ya, trailor man.

TRENT: Hey, I'm not
always gonna live in a soup can. Next year I'm gonna be at the white
house. (he goes back inside)

DEVON: Babi Yaga went inside and put
a huge kettle on to boil. The dog told the girl to run cause Babi Yaga was
going to cook her, but she knew she could never outrun Babi Yaga. When
they sent the girl into the forest, she was kind to the thing she found.
She found a tree and dressed it up in ribbons.

TRENT: Don't you have any friends
your age? Kids you can hang out with and stuff?

DEVON: I don't
like kids. They smell like TV. And they talk too fast. Higher, go higher.
(Trent goes higher as next step breaks a branch causing him to fall)

TRENT: Shit! (he hits the ground as DEVON escapes into the
doghouse) Hooooooo!Ooooohhh! Hey, I could be dying over here. (she runs
out to see if he's alive)

DEVON: Is your heart going de-de-dum
de-de-dum de-de-dum?

TRENT: Something like that. Hey, come here.
Get me a beer out of my truck. It's in the cooler and the cigerettes are
on the dash. (DEVON runs to his truck and jumps in the driver seat. She
grabs the steering wheel, pretending to be dragging when TRENT moans a
second time) OOHHHHHH! (she grabs the beer and pack of cigerettes and runs
back to his rescue)

DEVON: Where did you get shot?

TRENT:
In the gut.

DEVON: By a robber?

TRENT: Look, I have to do
three maybe four lawns. You're from Camelot, right?

DEVON: Camelot
Gardens, yup. Over the hills and far away. (they drive to Camelot Gardens.
TRENT stops at the gate to let her off)

TRENT: It's better if I
let you off here.

DEVON: Yeah, I know.

SCENE THIRTEEN
Barbecue at the Stockards. DEVON is playing with TRACKER, a dog, while
MORTON attends the grill. The whole neighborhood is here, socializing with
each other.

DEVON: Tracker!

SEAN: Tracker!

MORTON:
Leave the dog be, honey. (DEVON wlaks away while MORTON turns to BRETT)
Would you go tell her we're about ready for the salad.

BRETT:
Alright. (he enters the kitchen) They need the salad to start.

CLARE: Yes, well, I think we should have that ready in about four
minutes. What do you say? (DEVON approaches the kitchen to find her mother
holding the salad in the air. Sticking out from her dress are two legs,
BRETT's. DEVON walks away, laughs, and the scene cuts to CLARE bringing
the salad out) The salad has arrive! (TRENT approaches MORTON, passes Pam
on the way)

TRENT: Hey.

PAM: Hi.

MORTON: Oh,
hello. Can I help you?

TRENT: I finished your lawn sir. I did the
trimming as well and I blew the drive, short back and sides.

MORTON: Oh yes, we heard you loud and clear. Worked up an
appetite,son. Devon, throw a couple of hotdogs on the grille for this
young man.

TRENT: Oh, no thank-you sir, but I better...I better
get back to work.

MORTON: Nonsense, go take a seat over there.
(TRENT sits and BRETT sits next to him)

BRETT: Hey, I heard a
rumor that Pamela Gregory screwed you last night. Now tell me that isn't
true. What would you and her possibly have in common? (SEAN joins in)

SEAN: Ah, Brett. Putting your social skills to work again.

BRETT: Yes, I am. So whatcha gonna be when you grow up, huh?
Landscape designer? Conservationist? Hey, what colleges have you applied
to, boy?

SEAN: Real charmer, isn't he?

BRETT: What about
computer design? That's a solid choice. Everybody's going in for that
these days. Let's talk about exotic careers; high-diving for instance, say
from bridges. Say single-lane bridges.

MORTON: Hotdogs coming up.
Onions and ketchup for you, right?

TRENT: Oh, thank-you sir. (NASH
takes his turn)

NASH: You wouldn't happen to know anything about
all those lampshades that keep disappearing around here, would you?

TRENT: I can't help you, sir.

NASH: It's the funniest
thing. I mean what could a person do with so many lampshades?

BRETT: Sell 'em. (after the laught dies out, TRENT returns to
MORTON)

TRENT: Sir, for your lawn?

MORTON: Oh yeah. Here
you go, a 20, there.

TRENT: You're just ten dollars shy here, Mr.
Stockard.

MORTON: Just what are you saying.

TRENT: I'm
saying just...you're ten dollars shy of what we agreed on.

MORTON:
I just gave you a couple of hotdogs, didn't I. (more laughter) Just
pulling your leg there, son. Here you go. Alright, meat's on. Bring me a
beer, man! (MORTON throws the steaks on the grille while TRENT walks away.
SEAN runs to catch up)

SEAN: Hey, McKay County School. Sean
Torrels. Third grade, remember?

TRENT: No.

SEAN: I was
only there a few months. My parents pulled me out and put me in private.

TRENT: Oh yeah yeah, your dad drove that...that blue BMW.

SEAN: Did he? I don't remember.

TRENT: I remember. It was
the only new car in the school parking lot that winter.

SEAN: We
were friends, right?

TRENT: Nah, just in the same class. (TRENT
reaches out and pokes his finger in a hole in SEAN's shirt) Should know
better to come to a party dressed like shit. In third grade you had better
taste. (SEAN takes TRENT's hand and holds it)

SEAN: My bet was
that you could of made a good surgeon.

TRENT: Like your daddy?

SEAN: You got the hands for it.

SCENE FOURTEEN DEVON
has just witnessed this entire scene, the laughing, the ridicule, the
embarassment, and decides to get revenge. She dumps TRENT's hotdogs in her
father's toolbox first. Then she sits on top of her father's truck near
the edge. She slides her panties down and begins to urinate down the
windshield. Then she climbs inside the truck and turns the wipers on,
smearing her revenge. She opens the glove box and pulls out a gun, points
it at the windshield and says

DEVON: Go ahead, make my day. (BRETT
scares her)

BRETT: BANG! Oh, daddy's gun, huh? (he takes the gun)
That's pretty dangerous. (he takes one bullet out and touches it to
DEVON's lips) You ever wonder what one of these might feel like going in.
(Slowly, he moves the bullet down her chin and to her chest) You smell
like your mom. (he inches her button-up shirt open)

DEVON: Get
out! (DEVON slides to the other side to get out of the truck)

BRETT: Hey! Sshhhh!

SCENE FIFTEEN DEVON packs her
suitcase and rushes downstairs to see mom and dad cleaning up the dishes.

DEVON: Mom, Tracy asked me if I could spend the night.

MORTON: Tracy who?

DEVON: Tracy Keller, you know. I met
her at the picnic last week. You liked her parents. Her dad's with the
fedearl security bank.

MORTON: Is he?

CLARE: Alright, but
later on. First, you need to get the dolls out of the bath and their arms
out of the sink.

DEVON: Okay. (she drops the suitcase and rushes
upstairs to clean up)

CLARE: See, what did I tell you. She's made
a friend already. Just a matter of time.

SCENE SIXTEEN CLARE
drives up to Tracy's house and lets DEVON off. CLARE begins to get out as
DEVON stops her and rushes up to the house.

DEVON: Don't wait!

CLARE: Can't I come in with you?

DEVON: No, I'll look like
a kid, okay.

CLARE: Alright.

DEVON: Call you in a few
hours.

CLARE: Try to have fun, sweetheart.

DEVON: Have a
nice evening. (DEVON approaches the door, stops, turn to watch her mother
disappear into the distance, and then takes off running. She returns to
TRENT's trailor just as TRENT and PAM step outside after another session
of wild lovemaking)

DEVON: Hi. (she sits in front of him) What did it
feel like when you got shot?

TRENT: It feels like getting shot.

DEVON: Could you feel the bullet go in?

TRENT: Don't
remember.

DEVON: I would of remembered if it happened to me.

TRENT: (cuts finger on chain) Shit!

DEVON: Got any
whiskey? It stings, but it kills the germs.

TRENT: No. (DEVON
examines the wound and then sucks on the end of his finger. He jerks his
hand back, stunned)

DEVON: You supposed to suck the poison out or
you die.

TRENT: What poison?

DEVON: I read it in a book on
snakes.

TRENT: Snake didn't bite me.

DEVON: And then the
next time one does, you'll know what to do. I'm not afraid of blood. Every
time they open me up I lost a bathtub full. How much blood did you lose
when you got shot?

TRENT: I don't know.

DEVON: Did you
nearly die.

TRENT: Yeah, I guess I did. (he gets up to find a
bandage) Blue was drinking with me and Jeff and we run out of beer. Pulled
over at the Five-Star and there was these three J-Town cops slurping down
donuts and coffee. I know them and they sure know me. So, I'm paying for
my twelve of Bud and I turn to the three of them and I let out this killer
burp. I mean this son of a bitch was as loud as a shotgun. Kinda ruined
their snack, I guess. So, five minutes later they pull us over. Jeff gets
scared. He makes a run for it, so now they think we got something to hide.
And they're whacking me with their sticks 'til finally I was able to punch
one of 'em and busted his nose and his buddy aims a shotgun at me. Bang,
bang, you're dead. Only I weren't.

DEVON: Wow. What happened to
Jeff?

TRENT: Jeff was okay. He got three months and I got six. Boy
I tell ya.

DEVON: People say you're trash.

TRENT: Yeah, I
guess they do.

DEVON: I wouldn't like that.

TRENT: You get
used to it.

DEVON: My father says, if everyone worked hard, there
wouldn't be any poor people. You're a poor person, aren't you? He says
that anyone who works hard can be rich just like him.

TRENT:
Sounds like you gotta smart daddy.

DEVON: Trash is something you
put a lid on because it stinks. You don't smell that bad.

TRENT:
(laughs wildly) That makes my day. The way I see it is you got people who
own lawns and you got people who mow 'em and they're never the same
people. (TRENT wlaks to the front door and walks out. DEVON follows) Okay,
it's time for you to get on home.

TRENT: Get outta here. Just go. What the hell you want from
me? What? What, huh? What! (He picks up his cooler) Is that what you want.
You can have it. anything you want here it's yours, take it. Okay? What's
with you? Curious? Just curious? When you got all that out there,
everything out there's yours. There's nothing here for you, you
understand? Go home. Go home. (TRENT goes back inside. He reaches under
the sink and pulls out a mason jar. He returns to the table and opens it,
taking out a wad of bills. He reaches into his pocket to produce today's
earnings and adds it to the pile. He flips through the stack (about two
grand easy) and returns the money to the jar. At that point, DEVON swings
down from a hole in his roof, hangs upside down and asks)

DEVON:
You know where we can find two live chickens?

SCENE SEVENTEEN
DEVON and TRENT are riding in the truck.

TRENT: Why don't we
just drive to the supermarket?

DEVON: They have to be fresh. The
one's at the supermarket have been frozen for years. Maybe longer.

TRENT: You know stealing livestock is a criminal offense. We could
go to jail.

DEVON: We won't be stealing them. We'll just be
borrowing them and then we'll change our minds and eat them. Trust me.
(The scene changes to the outside of a chicken coop) Look, a chicken walk.
(DEVON crawls up and in to the coop. TRENT follows) Sshhh, they're trying
to sleep. (Just as TRENT stands up and surveys the area, DEVON screams)
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! (The chickens go crazy as TRENT and DEVON scramble to
catch one. DEVON grabs one by the neck) I caught one! (Now we're back in
the truck) Look's like your lucks changing, buddy. Just a few more minutes
'til the end of your life. (Another scene change. DEVON is standing at a
pay phone outside a convience store. A biker waits for the phone as TRENT
holds the chickens down) Um, Tracy's fine. We're having chicken for
dinner. Well, uh, her om can't come to the phone right now, she's having a
bath. (One of the chickens try to escape. TRENT grabs it and the crowing
begins as the other one alos tries to make a break for it) Gotta go mom,
Tracy's waving at me. (The chickens attack TRENT now) C-ya. Love you. Bye.
(Final scene change. The chickens are tied to the railing of the porch
while TRENT prepares the fire) Do you think if we met a hundred years ago,
we'd still end up as friends?

DEVON: Not yet.
(The scene advances to a plate full of bones. DEVON picks up her chicken
feet and start to prounce around the fire ring)

TRENT: If you
promise never to pull this one on me again, I'll let you sleep over.
Whatcha think your dad would do if he found out?

DEVON: He'd cut
off my feet.

TRENT: That's right.

DEVON: And then he'd tie
you to a stake and burn you. (the chicken approach TRENT's arm) Babi Yaga
bonylegs--his teeth made of steel and he can bite through trees, and his
legs are like chicken legs.

TRENT: Who is this Babi Yaga?

DEVON: A witch who lives in the forest.

TRENT: I mean,
what's this monster stand for?

DEVON: The moral of the story?

TRENT: Yeah.

DEVON: For whatever's bad, I guess. SOmetimes
when it's dark, Babi Yaga goes out into the fields and a wild dog comes to
meet him. ANd then a big scary wind starts to blow and blow.
Hiiieeeeyyyyyuuuuuu! Hiiiiyyyuuuuuuu! Then Babi Yaga kills the dog with
his bare hands and east it. Then Babi Yaga sings and dances with his belly
full of dog meat and blood. Aye-aye-e-aye. Aye-aye-e-aye. (Scene changes
and DEVON is lying in Trent's bed while TRENT does his best to get
comfortable on the couch) Do you know how the girl escapes from Babi Yaga?

TRENT: No.

DEVON: The starving dog she finds gives her a
magic comb and embroided towel. And the girl runs away through the forest.
And when Babi Yaga almost has her, the girl throws down the towel and a
great river springs up and Babi Yaga can't cross 'til he drives his cows
to drink up all the water.

TRENT: Look, I've got to get up early,
okay.

DEVON: When Babi Yaga's at her heels, the girl throws down
the comb and a great forest springs up behind her.

TRENT: The end,
okay.

SCENE EIGHTEEN MORTON and NASH inspect the street light
beside MORTON's driveway. The lamp is gone and the bulb is shattered.

NASH: That's the third one they got on your street this week.

TRENT: Someone's making fools of us.

NASH: I've been
watching the lamps in this neighborhood at all hours. All hours.

MORTON: I don't like it one bit. We're insecure.

(At this
point the scene changes to a river bank. A lamp flies into the screen and
shatters in the pile of other lampshades.)

BILLY: Let's see some
blood on their chins! GO, bring in teh second squad! Go! We gotta fly to
Baghdad by dawn! (BILLY throws another lamp, watches is soraing through
the air)

SCENE NINETEEN Outside TRENT's trailor. TRENT loads
his truck for his next job.

DEVON: It won't take all day will it?

TRENT: It'll take as long as it takes.

DEVON: Can I come?
I can help you.

TRENT: I'll drop you off at the gates.

DEVON: (the truck stops at the gates and DEVON gets out with
TRENT. TRENT hauls her suitcase out of the bed and hands it to her) I can
pull weeds.

TRENT: Nope, but I'll make you a deal. We can be
friends if you can keep it a secret.

DEVON: What's wrong with you
and me being friends?

TRENT: Well, for one thing, I'm a country
bumpkin, alright. I was born sucking on rat's guts and I'm a piss poor,
son of a bitch, do anything for a buck. (He picks her and throws her over
his shoulder) I slobber, and I spit, and I fart...

DEVON: Hey!
Whatcha doing. Put me down!

TRENT: And I eat little princesses
like you for breakfast. (he sits her down on top of the toolbox)

DEVON: I'm not a princess.

TRENT: No, well, I'm still piss
poor.

DEVON: Do you want me to feel sorry for you?

TRENT:
I don't know.

DEVON: Well, you can forget it. Polish my golden
slipper.

TRENT: (licks the hem of his shirt and cleans her shoes)
Yes, ma'am,I polish it so shiny I can see my face in it, yeah.

SCENE TWENTY DEVON and TRENT are riding along in his truck

DEVON: What do you want to be when you grow up?

TRENT:
When I grow up? I don't know; I don't think about it.

DEVON: Well,
think about it.

TRENT: When I grow up? I don't know. I just want
to be gone, you know, away from here. One day I'm gonna save up enough
money and do that, too. I'm gonna put on a clean shirt, a new pair of
socks, and I'm just gonna walk out of this life.

DEVON: I like how
it sounds.

TRENT: How what sounds?

DEVON: Trent and Devon,
Devon and Trent. Trent and Devon, Devon and Trent.

SCENE
TWENTY-ONE TRENT pulls up to the side of a river and kills the engine.

TRENT: When I was a kid, my mom and my old man took me fishing
here. In those days you could catch five or six catfish, big as your arm,
and one night, well, I just let the two of them fish and then I walk aways
down the bank, and I take my shorts off and I plop my self down in the
sand in my bare ass and I piss.

DEVON: Yuck.

TRENT: No,
no, there's nothing like the day cooling all around you and you're sitting
in warm piss with the river floating by.

DEVON: Yuck again.

TRENT: Yuck again? I was a kid, okay. What you piss in, is yours
for life. (He hits teh radio and Bruce Springsteen belts out "Dancing in
the Dark" He climbs out the window, on top of the truck, and pops his head
in DEVON's window) Come up here. (He grabs her arm and pulls her up there.
Out in the lake is a boat and TRENT yells)This is my river

You hear me!

DEVON: This is my river! You hear me! (They begin to dance as the
shot turns to the boat, NASH and MORTON are fishing)

MORTON: Damn
kids.

NASH: River rat son of a bitches. (The music seems to get
louder and NASH aims his gun in the water and fires. Immediatly, TRENT and
DEVON stop)

MORTON: Well that'll get the fish biting for sure,
Nash.

TRENT: Let's get outta here.

DEVON: No, wait a
minute.

TRENT: What, what, what?

MORTON: I recogize that
truck.

NASH: It's that lawnmower kid.

MORTON: And one of
his little tramps. What, what are they doing now?

NASH: I'll be
damned, they're mooning us. (The camera shows a far off few of the two
mooning and then switches to the ruck driving down the highway with DEVON
leaning out the window making sure they weren't following.

SCENE
TWENTY-TWO Dinner at the Stockard's house.

CLARE: You don't
look like you got much sleep at Tracy's.

MORTON: Did you have a
good time, honey?

DEVON: Brett put his hand up my shirt yesterday
at the barbecue.

CLARE: What?

MORTON: You let him put his
hand up your shirt?

DEVON: No, he just did it.

MORTON: You
mean he forced his hand up your shirt. Is that all? Nothing else?

DEVON: I got away.

MORTON: Good for you. That's my girl.
Had a good chat with Brett's dad at the barbecue. He's the vice-president
of Maxitaw Kentucky. He told me he had a wild one on his hands with that
boy.

DEVON: He was just tickling me.

CLARE: Oh, honey, why
didn't you say so in the first place. He was just playing.

MORTON:
Well then, he didn't mean any harm, Dev. You gave us a scare.

DEVON: (She takes a bite of her penut-butter-jelly sandwich and
then spits it out, acting sick) Can I be excused? I don't feel well. (she
leaves).

CLARE: Do you think Brett really upset her?

MORTON: She's just growing up.

CLARE: Well, she has her
last doctor's appointment on Friday.

MORTON: I still think we
should look into some plastic surgery.

CLARE: She doesn't want it;
at least not for now.

MORTON: She'll want it when she starts
dating. In a few years, a boy like Brett feels...that...in the dark, he
won't be back for more.

CLARE: Morton!

SCENE TWENTY-THREE
TRENT mows while Brett and Sean watch from there car.

SEAN:
What a waste. God, he just keeps on mowing. Just mows and mows like it
don't make a difference in the world.

BRETT: That man there just
ain't mowing lawns. He's got a plan.

SEAN: First our lawns, then
our women.

BRETT: He's just waiting to make his move.

SEAN: Jesus, Brett, that guy really gets on your skin, doesn't he?

BRETT: How about going to the mall and pick up some fresh sound.
This stuff is stale. (The car aims toward the mailman) Oh, let's not run
over Mexico there!

SEAN: El Salvador stupido!

BRETT: Viva
Mexico!

SEAN: Ariba, Ariba, hey! (When the car is gone, the
mailman looks toward TRENT. He drops a large package to the ground and
smiles as TRENT runs it over).

DEVON: (inside, playing cheakers
with a doll). That was a smart move kid. (Moves red) Your move. (moves
balck and begins jumping to win for herself) That move my friend just cost
you another arm and a leg. (Rips an arm and leg off the doll) Alright, one
more. But don't get too smart dollface. If you lose this time, it will
cost you your head. (SHe hears the mower and runs to the window. Ten she
runs to the kitchen to meet mom) Can I bring him a glass of water?

CLARE: Why would you do that?

DEVON: Because it's hot.

CLARE: Well, that would be considerate. (DEVON grabs a glass from
the cubboard) Oh, not one of the nice galsses, honey. There's a glass
under the sink. (DEVON finds teh other glass, a cheap plastic cup, and
washes it off) Oh, it's perfectly clean. (DEVON runs out to meet TRENT)

TRENT: Come on, stop what you're doing. Come here, I wnat to show
you something. (He leads her to the truck and gives her a turtle).

DEVON: Wow, where did you get it?

TRENT: I almost ran over
it with the mower, turtle spaghetti

DEVON: Eww.

TRENT:
He'll eat lettuce.

CLARE: Devon!

DEVON: Oh, I gotta go.

TRENT: Okay.

DEVON: Bye, thanks.

SCENE switches to
TRACKER in Sean's car. The perks up and begins barking at Billy dressed in
a space uniform.

BILLY: Don't bite me. (He gives the dog a cookie,
reaches behind him and takes the new CDS Sean and Brett just bought. As he
makes a run for it, he drops one. Then SEAN and BRETT come out of the
house and jump in the car. SEAN backs up over the CD)

SEAN:
(Patting the dog's head) Hey boy! What the hell!

BRETT: That son
of a bitch. (IN the next scene, Brett begins pouring sugar in TRENT's
mower. Sean stops him)

SEAN: WHat if he didn't take the CDs?

BRETT: He took 'em. WHo do you think's been taking the
streetlamps?

SEAN: WHat if it's his only mower?

BRETT: I
know they always got a spare.

SEAN: Come on, let's go.

BACK inside the Stockard house, Devon show her mom the turtle.

DEVON: He just gave me a turtle mom.

CLARE: People just
don't give away turtles. Has he spoken to you before?

DEVON: Yes.

CLARE: When? Listen to me, sweetheart. I'd rather you didn't talk
to him anymore. People don't just give you things without wnating
something in return. The next thing you know, he'll be asking your father
for a job.

DEVON: He's got a job.

CLARE: There's probably
something wrong with it.

SCENE changes to NASH peering in to
TRENT's gastank.

NASH: Look's like you got some sugar in your gas
tank. Now how did you manage that? Sugar will ruin a motor for sure.
(TRENT begins to leave) Just a minute there, son. I got a call from a
woman that ives around here. SHe said you gave her daughter a turtle? Is
that right?

TRENT: Yeah, I gave a kid a turtle.

NASH: Now
why did you go and do a thing like that? Look, I like turtles. I used to
go hunting them back up Herod's Creek when I was a kid, but folks are
nervous these days. It be best if you kept to yourself when you're working
around here.

SCENE TWENTY-FOUR TRENT drives up to Sean's car
blocking the road. SEAN gets out and approaches the driver side window.

SEAN: How's it going?

TRENT: Mind if I get by here?

BRETT: Hey! I've been meangin to talk to you. It's about this lawn
my grandmother has; only problem is, it's on her face. Think you can
handle it?

SEAN: That's a nice mower. How's it running for you?

TRENT: Okay now, get that car outta my way.

SEAN: What's
the rush. S'got something we need to work out is all.

BRETT: Would
you look at this. (BRETT pulls out the weed eater) It's ancient. Hell, I
bet you could sell this for an antique, heh?

TRENT: Don't touch
it.

SEAN: Brett, put it back.

BRETT: (he revs it up)
What's it feel like to play with a four foot long vibrator all day, huh?
Hey Sean, let's trim some weeds. (He inches the blade close to TRENT's
face)

SEAN: If you took the music, just give it back. There'll be
no trouble.

TRENT: (Trent grabs SEAN and kisses him hard on the lips. TRACKER
attacks and grabs TRENT's leg) Get your fucking dog off of me! Get this
fucking dog off of me! Get the fuck off! (Climbs back in truck and revs
engine)

SEAN: He bit me! Move my car! Move it, damn it!

SCENE TWENTY-FIVE DEVON is sitting by the old fire pit while
TRENT examines his damaged mower

TRENT: Well, I could sell the
truck to get a new mower, but then how am I going to get the mower around?
I could sell the chainsaw and that might bring me enough to buy a half-ass
mower, but then I'll be mowing with a piece of shit and I'm going to be
out of a chainsaw to do the tree work. So you know what? Just fuck the
whole thing. Fuck it. (He begins to beat the head of the mower with a hunk
of metal and then stops. He loks over at DEVON and then bangs away. When
he stops, DEVON climbs up on the mower and begins jumping up and down,
kicking at the bolts. The scene swithces to DEVON and TRENT in the truck
heading down the road.

DEVON: Where are we going? Trent?

TRENT: (He pulls up to a trailor while some kids playing with
water guns sprays DEVON) You want to come in? (They enter) Hey mama.

MOM: Hey!

TRENT: Hey, give me some sugar.

MOM:
What happened to your face?

TRENT: Oh, it's nothing. I just
scrape...

MOM: What's this?

TRENT: I cut myself with the
weed eater.

MOM: You want me to get you a new bandage?

TRENT: No don't worry about it. This id Devon, mama.

MOM:
Well, nice to meet you, Devon.

TRENT: You look tired.

MOM:
Well, your daddy could keep th ewhole country awake with his wheazing and
kicking. He's out back.

TRENT: Yeah.

MOM: You two look
hot. You want some iced tea. (silence) Well I do. Get us a couple of
glasses out of the cupboard there, honey. (DEVON reaches for two and then
stops) Get the nice ones. The horse ones for a change. I hope you like it
sweet. (DEVON begins to wipe the cups out with her dress and notices TRENT
watching her. Feeling embarrased, she stops) His daddy likes it real
sweet. There you go.

TRENT: (leaves the house to find his dad
outside)

DAD: Well, now.

TRENT: How are you, dad?

DAD: Well, I'm still here.

TRENT: I lost the mower today.

DAD: What? Stolen?

TRENT: No, some kids put some sugar in
the motor.

DAD: Well, why would they do that?

TRENT: Cause
they like me.

DAD: Well, if you're worried about us--is that why
you come here? Hey, you know we do just fine on the pension. What you send
us is a treat, something extra. So we'll do without the extra. Hell, I
can't bowl no more anyway.

TRENT: Can I listen?

DAD:
(TRENT leans his ear against his dad's chest) No, don't worry about it.
Hey, it's not so bad. (Both get up to enter the house)

DEVON: (at
the table with MOM) Not exactly. It's more like yours goes de-dum de-du
de-dum and mine goes de-de-dum de-de-dum de-de-dum. (MOM finally gets it
and they both stand)

DAD: (scene changes to DAD placing US Flags
on the counter while the rest watch) I picked these up in my years in
Korea. Lot's of guys would sleep with 'em under their pillows at night and
when a guy didn't come back, well I got his flag. Take them.

TRENT: Oh no.

DAD: Oh no? I want you to have them.

TRENT: I don't wnat 'em. I don't wnat them, dad.

DAD:
Goddamnit, except a gift. I don't want them around the house no more. I
can't bring myself to throw them away.

TRENT: Just when are you
going to die? Get it over with, dad. You've been doing ti for years now.

DAD: It takes a while to die.

TRENT: You think I don't
know that? You think I don't know? You and your fucking flags. I don't
want them, okay! Send them to whatever bastard sent you your pension.
(TRENT leaves)

DAD: This one was always my favorite back then.
Here feel of it, how soft it is.

DEVON: Who's was this one?

DAD: It was mine.

SCENE TWENTY-SIX TRENT and DEVON are
in the truck. DEVON holds on to the US Flag that was DAD's

DEVON:
Why is your father dying? Is it because of the Koreans? Did they torture
him?

TRENT: The Koreans didn't fuck up my old man. It was the
canned cheese. Government rations the soldiers got. The cans had some sort
of bacteria in 'em, see. Of course the government denies it. It gets
inside you, lives in your lungs, and eats 'em up bit by bit. He had one
lung out some years back. Just got half of one left. You ever wonder what
it be like to live on half a lung? (TRENT starts hacking away)